"What...?"
"What did you say?!"
Ao Budong was so shocked he couldn't speak for a long mont. When he finally did, his voice trembled with urgency.
"Emperor Sturgeon Dragon, why would he help humans? As a dragon general of our clan, how dare you slander and defa a senior of the sea tribe?!"
Never had the Dragon Emperor been so visibly shaken.
The fury in his urgent tone alone made the surroundings tense beyond asure. Tens of thousands of Celestial Dragon rfolk silently descended onto the sea's surface, not daring to move without permission.
The three dragon generals trembled and lowered themselves further, stamring out their defense.
"Your Majesty, please see the truth!"
"This matter is absolutely true! Ao Bei was sent flying by Emperor Sturgeon Dragon with a single strike and still hasn't returned. We all witnessed the might of the Imprisoned Dragon Overturning Claw!"
"It really was Emperor Sturgeon Dragon!"
Whoosh!
Ao Budong's face turned deathly pale.
He seed to lose all strength in his body, unable to stand steadily any longer. Slumping onto his war chariot, his pupils trembled as he muttered their words repeatedly.
"Imprisoned Dragon Overturning Claw... Imprisoned Dragon Overturning Claw..."
"So it really was Emperor Sturgeon Dragon!"
"Why would he help humans? Why?!"
Before he could finish his bewildered muttering, the disheveled dragon generals spoke again, their voices shaking.
"Your Majesty..."
"We don’t know the reason either, but besides Emperor Sturgeon Dragon, the North Sea Emperor is also aiding the humans!"
Swoosh!
Ao Budong jolted as if struck by lightning, a cold chill running down his spine.
His eyes snapped open, the shock in them growing even more pronounced.
"The North Sea Emperor?"
"He’s involved too?!"
Ao Budong was now so agitated he couldn’t sit still, his throat dry with dread.
He had never imagined.
That things would escalate so absurdly, completely beyond his expectations.
He had thought.
That if the humans had sohow managed to defeat the four dragon generals, it must have been with the help of ancient clans from the mainland. He had even planned to personally intervene, both to crush the ignorant humans and to assert his dominance over the world.
Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined...
That the ones aiding the humans would be those two!
What the hell?!
Facing those two, he was nothing!
Ao Budong felt trapped, his fighting spirit utterly extinguished. He was now consud by shock and confusion, his face flickering between emotions.
"Why...?"
"Why would our own sea tribe elders help humans? Such betrayal is beyond my power to oppose. I might have to swallow my pride and ask Lord Crab Emperor to intervene!"
Just as his muttering faded, another dragon general’s report echoed through the air.
"Y-Your Majesty."
"Lord Crab Emperor... also aided the humans today!"
Thud!
Ao Budong’s heart clenched violently at these words, his face draining of all color.
"What?!"
"Even Lord Crab Emperor is helping the humans?!"
"Impossible! This is absolutely impossible!!!"
Despair and disbelief unlike anything he had ever felt overwheld him.
Ao Budong let out a hoarse roar, completely losing his composure in front of tens of thousands of his clansn.
He refused to believe that the revered elders of the sea tribe would one after another side with humans—his enemies! Even the most ancient and respected Lord Crab Emperor was aiding outsiders!
Such a thing, even if reported by his own generals, was unacceptable.
For anyone.
Who could believe that their own clan’s legendary figures would help their sworn enemies? What a heart-wrenching truth!
Yet.
No matter how much the Dragon Emperor raged and roared, the bowing generals never wavered in their account. The tens of thousands of rfolk around them only stared in shock and terror, as if still reeling from the earlier horrors.
Seeing the sea of defeated figures before him, the Dragon Emperor suddenly deflated like a punctured balloon, his spirit utterly crushed.
He seed to age millennia in an instant, sitting dazed and hollow-eyed on his throne.
When he spoke again, his voice was weak and lifeless.
"Is... is this all true?"
The dragon generals raised their heads with great difficulty, practically gritting their teeth as they answered.
"Absolutely true..."
"Your Majesty, what should we do now? How do we proceed with conquering the Seventy-Two Islands...?"
Ao Budong fell silent at the question, his face a mix of humiliation and terror. He had no answers left. Frantically, he waved his hand and ordered his chariot to retreat into the depths.
"Conquer what?!"
"Back to the palace! Back to the palace!"
"All warriors, return to our territory imdiately! Without my direct order, no one is to step foot outside! Violators will be executed without rcy!"
As the chariot hastily vanished into the abyss, the tens of thousands of Celestial Dragon rfolk scrambled after it in disarray, their earlier majesty gone, fleeing like frightened birds into the sea.
The entire Celestial Dragon rfolk clan had been utterly terrified.
A long while later.
Ao Budong, now back in his palace, slumped onto his throne, his face haggard and defeated.
His hair hung over his brows like an old man’s, his eyes vacant with lingering horror.
No matter how much he replayed the events in his mind, he couldn’t calm the terror in his heart.
"How is this possible...?"
"Those three are the great powers of our sea tribe! Even I couldn’t guarantee summoning them at will. How could they suddenly side with the humans of the Seventy-Two Islands? What could those humans possibly have offered them?!"
Images of three colossal figures lood in his mind, making the situation even more unfathomable.
The North Sea Emperor had always been indifferent to worldly affairs.
He was the kind of man who could abandon an imperial throne without hesitation.
Ao Budong couldn’t fathom what could possibly move such a being.
Emperor Sturgeon Dragon was even harder to persuade.
As the emperor of the Sturgeon Dragon Fish Clan, there was no treasure he hadn’t seen. What could the humans possibly possess to make him intervene personally?
And Lord Crab Emperor...
Hah.
Ao Budong let out a deranged, bitter laugh, his face twisting into sothing almost manic.
No matter how hard he racked his brain, he couldn’t comprehend why these three terrifying figures would stoop so low as to act as re enforcers for humans!
What kind of fight was this?!
Even if it was the truth, thinking about it felt like a bad joke!
Ao Budong’s entire worldview had shattered!
He had thought so fool had dared to challenge the Celestial Dragon rfolk, overestimating themselves, and he had been ready to teach them a lesson.
Now, it turned out the fool was him all along!
The more he thought, the more shocked and bewildered he beca.
Unconsciously.
His mind beca a tangled ss, and strange mories from the past resurfaced.
Back then, the three elders had rejected his audiences one after another. In hindsight, their behavior had been suspicious, almost as if they feared sothing. Yet now, they had turned around and served humans, their attitudes completely reversed.
This whole situation was getting more and more bizarre!
After a long ti lost in thought, Ao Budong pieced together the clues, his expression growing increasingly grim.
"First, they coldly watched as I was humiliated, then they turned around and beca human lackeys. Such two-faced behavior is despicable! Have they no sha?!"
"Given their status and power, what could possibly make them act so recklessly? If this is true, then the situation is far more complicated than it seems!"
"Such influence can’t be matched by any treasure, nor could re humans possess it!"
"There must be an unimaginably terrifying presence within the Seventy-Two Islands..."
"Gasp..."
Ao Budong suddenly jolted as if struck by lightning, his entire body freezing in place.
A premonition of impending doom seized him. Trembling, he pulled out a jade slip to send urgent ssages, his hands shaking uncontrollably. After sending several humble pleas, he finally received a single indifferent reply after what felt like an eternity.
Yet Ao Budong didn’t mind in the slightest. Instead, his eyes brimd with grateful tears as he hastily departed the depths alone.
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